30.1.03

[toronto]
at carl's
...kicking it with shawn and carl, just like the good old days. having a great time so far, and i'll recap later. i've been pretty good -- this is the first time that touched the computer in about three days!

26.1.03

[vancouver]
chicopee
...it looks like a hill, but i'll still be fun. aimee's taking me.

24.1.03

[vancouver]
vancouver police riot investigation web page
check this out...if you know/recognize any of these individuals from the guns and roses riot on november 2nd at gm place...you can help!

[vancouver]
this is very cool.
check it out, via bill.
(better than a whiteboard?)

23.1.03

[vancouver]
if you're bored
...this is fun. try it out. i guess my two years of typing in high school paid off.

21.1.03

[vancouver]
leaving on a jet plane.
i've booked my ticket, and i'm leaving next week for toronto to catch up with old friends and to get away from work and life in vancouver for a while. check out the balmy conditions in toronto.

am i crazy?

20.1.03

[vancouver]
little house
ole says i look like this guy.

i need a haircut.

[vancouver]
25th hour
saw this on the weekend -- a definite must see. generally, i'm not a big spike lee fan, but the steady hand at which he guides this movie allows for the story to unfold gently and honestly.

both philip seymour hoffman and edward norton give impeccable performances -- they truly are among the best actors of their generation.

19.1.03

[surrey]
vote yes
for all my friends that can call themselves proud citizens of vancouver, here is some information that my friend ali (who works for the vancouver 2010 winter olympic bid) that everyone should take note of. specifically:

Three major events in the bid process will be taking place:
* On Saturday, February 22, the City of Vancouver is going to hold a plebiscite where Vancouver residents will be asked whether they support the City's participation in hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
* In the first week of March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission will visit Vancouver and Whistler. During this visit, this group will meet the Bid Development Team and assess whether Vancouver 2010 can deliver on its proposals.
* At an undisclosed time in the near future, the IOC will also be polling the public to measure local support behind hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

sometimes i think that vancouver is like a city that doesn't want to grow up, or a singer with all the talent in the world yet without a stage to sing on. i think that hosting the olympics will be vancouver chance to be 'centre stage'. notwithstanding all the benefits for amateur sport, and the economic spinoffs, i think an event like the olympics will give vancouver a chance to shine and come into its own -- and i'm not talking about just 'the city', but more importantly its citizens who make it such a great place to live, work and play.

for more information, send the bid corporation an email.

16.1.03

[surrey]
manties
For those nights and days, when you want to be and feel a little special, naughty, and very sexy, these Manties are for you.

are these for real? (and no, i don't have a pair).

15.1.03

[vancouver]
where in the world?
...can i have a great run along the water at lunch, and then go snowboarding after work on a local mountain.

i am truly lucky to live in vancouver.

12.1.03

[surrey]
a retort
...a (humourous) response to 'the devil's work'. i should memorize this.

[vancouver]
the work of the devil
what i'm going to post about is actually something that happened to me a couple of weeks ago; i wanted to post about then, however i wasn't sure on what i should say or how i truly felt about it. actually, i'm still unsure, so i guess i'll just go ahead and recount what happened (according to me) and let it be a part of this blog's history.

anyways, on boxing day, a group of us, associated either by high school, university or where we grew up got together for a bit of a reunion (see this post for full details). anyways, i was talking to jane (that's not her name). i've known jane since high school, she was a year younger than me, however, in university, we became quite close as she dated a guy that lived on my floor in residence at ubc. anyways, our conversation began with her asking me how i was doing, and if i had a boyfriend. i proceeded to tell her what was going on in my life, on how it was difficult for me to meet men, etc. -- the regular randy stuff that i usually complain about. anyways, jane is a very spiritual person, and i've always admired that quality in her, and so, we began to have a discussion on gay issues/sexuality in how they relate to christianity. we talked about me feeling a bit guilty that i have be ignoring 'my spiritual side' which proceeded to me discussing my general beef with the catholic church (i'm baptized catholic), which is the lack of discourse with regards to homosexuality, or even just contemporary issues that christians face in our everyday 'modern' society.

the conversation was going well -- i dig talking about stuff like that. however, as the conversation progressed, jane became a bit silent, and seemed a bit uneasy with my ramblings -- then came the following (unfortunately not direct quotes, but just how i remember it).

randy: well, what do you think? what are you thinking?
jane: well...i believe that man shouldn't be with man. it's unnatural.
randy: (silent)
jane: maybe that is the reason why it is so hard for you as a gay man. i think those feelings are are the work of satan.
randy: you think i'm satan?
jane: ...no, satan is working in you.

...as i recount this story, i'm still in shock. i'm not in shock because of what she believes, everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinion for sure. but i guess what bothers me is basically how she went about it i.e. started the conversation by asking me if i had a boyfriend, especially when she probably could have guessed that it would be something contentious, and put both of us ultimately on the defensive.

in this world of 'will and grace', i sometimes wonder how many my friends could possibly feel the same. everyone seems to love the show, however do they really know what they're watching, and further, are they even laughing?

[surrey]
i've moved.
i've gotten on the bandwagon (i.e. like grant, martin, ryan, and dono) and have finally transfered my blog to my domain. if you're following along, please note the new url:

www.randyromero.com

11.1.03

[surrey]
don't wanna
...just about to go out for my 3 k run, as part of training for the 1/2 marathon. it's cold outside...another 17 weeks of this!?

9.1.03

[vancouver]
the 'post-it' will hopefully work
i'm officially hovering around 168 to 170 lbs -- i feel fat. though some argue most of that is in my head (or due to the physical side of my head), and even though i have always been a bit stocky, i think i need to get my weight down to a reasonable level (which is, apparently supposed to be around 145 lbs -- WOW). anyways, thursday was the first night of the running room clinic, and with one of my resolutions of being more healthy, i've affixed a reminder to my monitor to try not to eat junk food.

stay tuned for my progress.

7.1.03

[vancouver]
nerd?
january 15 will mark one year of being gainfully employed as a developer. i almost peed my pants when i 'fixed' the CSS for the application that i've been working on -- finally it doesn't look like crap on mozilla.

does this make me a nerd?

3.1.03

[vancouver]
resolutions
i've never been that big on making new year's resolutions -- maybe because i feel like i'm always in the midst of reinvention. seriously though, even though the new year is a natural 'divide' to start something new or change something about myself i think i've been working on the following resolutions for the last few years :).

1. be healthy, be active.
2. read more, learn a lot.
3. 'think less', act more, and act now.

2.1.03

[vancouver]
bagong taon
...happy new year! here's to '03.